But a Humble Servant
by Cat In My Fridge
Summary: Ciel had always thought of love and sexuality as human enslavement. He'd been right. Sebastian x Ciel. M for sexual content involving a minor. Updated.
1. A HandsOn Project

**Author's Notes:** Hello. I'm new to the Kuroshitsuji fandom and taking a sneak peek as a guest writer from the Death Note and Kingdom Hearts fandom. I hope to make myself comfortable here. :-) The archive is teeny tiny and needs some fic, no? Let's cultivate it!

**Pairing:** SebastianCiel (yes, I went there!)

**Rating:** M for sexual content involving a minor, but nothing overly explicit and grisly. I tried to keep it tasteful.

**Overall warning for this fic:** A lot of people in this fandom think that Sebastian and Ciel are evil and sadistic people and while I do agree with that interpretation_ on principle_ and may explore such themes in another story, this story is mostly intended to be… well, I hesitate to use the word 'fluff' because I think it and Kuroshitsuji are rather irreconcilable, but, in any case, not overly angsty. Just telling you what to expect when getting into this story. 

Some edits were made at the suggestion of LJ user wiltoria. Thank you!

Anyway, on with it!

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**But a Humble Servant**

**A Sebastian x Ciel Kuroshitsuji Fanfic**

**Chapter 1: A Hands-On Project  
**

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Consciousness crept in, settling into various pockets of awareness. Ciel mumbled in his state of half-sleep and nuzzled his face into the pillow, unwilling to let acuteness sweep him up just yet and relishing in the feeling of sleepiness sheathing his body into a warm cocoon of comfort.

He made a small noise somewhere between a groan and a dissatisfied moan as his eyes fluttered open, dim light racing into his royal blue eyes. The room was still dark, but the first slivers of dawn crept in through the drawn curtains, dissolving the obliqueness of night. Ciel's eyes swirled to the clock on the wall. 7:02 AM. Irritated at the pressure in his pyjama pants, he felt the demons of restlessness shoo away the last remnants of sleep.

He knew it was time to get up, but Ciel stubbornly clenched his eyes shut again, breathing evenly through his nose, hoping against better hope that if he just pretended it didn't exist, it really would go away. Sadly, unlike the many novels he'd read in which it was preached that whatever you wished to come true inevitably would, he found that the opposite was true when it came to denying the existence of something he'd much rather never have to face.

No, maybe it wasn't so much that he didn't _want_ to deal with it. Maybe it was much more apt to say that he _couldn't_; because he, Ciel Phantomhive, certainly needed all the advantages adults held but could afford none of their weakness; and as so many of his keen observations had made painfully clear to him, sexual desires ranked at the very top of human weaknesses.

It had started a few months ago, around his 13th birthday. He had known what it meant the first time it had happened, having read about it, even having witnessed it in others too many times. He had known, and at the same time he _hadn't_ known; he had only been aware of it in theory and Ciel didn't think that any knowledge could have prepared him for the horror of these new feelings that were emerging in his body like corpses drifting toward the surface of the water from out of their water graves. The curse of humanity out to get him.

"Good morning, young master."

His eyes flew open with a start, swirling toward the figure standing in front of him.

Ciel's insides curled at the sight.

Sebastian had a placid smile on his face and his palm submissively pressed against the front of his uniform. "It is to my utmost regret that I must disturb your slumber, young master. Unfortunately, it's already past your usual time to get up." A larger smile wound itself around his lips.

Ciel drew in his breath harshly, thoughts spilling forth and bringing the first tendrils of horror right along with them.

"Sebastian, I – _uh_." He shielded his face as bright light plunged itself into his eyes at his butler drawing the curtains, bathing the room in light that illuminated every corner of Ciel's voluminous bedroom.

His butler turned to him. The light streaming in from the window outside became a halo when it touched him and wreathed his limbs into a brilliant nimbus. "Your breakfast has been prepared."

Ciel fidgeted nervously.

His butler went to open the closet looming in the corner, starting to pile Ciel's clothes on his arm. Once he was satisfied, he went over to the side of his master's bed, peering at him with an expectant look on his finely-featured face. "Young master." Was Ciel reading this wrong or had his voice taken on an amused tone? "It's time to get up."

Ciel swallowed bitterly. "Leave." Upon hearing the almost pleading tone in his voice, a hot scalpel of shame cut through his insides and Ciel cleared his throat, flicking his hand arrogantly. He forced his usual moodiness into his voice as he went on with as much nonchalance as he could muster, "I have something to take care of. You may re-enter in a couple of minutes."

The smile didn't falter and neither did the polite gentleness that laced his voice. "Your schedule is quite full and I see no reason why it should be delayed today." He bowed slightly. "My deepest apologies."

Ciel shifted in his bed, desperately trying to command his unruly erection. "Leave, Sebastian," he insisted in his usual bored drawl.

"Young master." His voice held an apologetic tone, but remained firm. "Is something the matter?"

Sweat broke out on Ciel's body and he chose not to answer that last inquiry. Although it was not the first time he had woken up in such a peculiar situation, the other times his erection had, much like a well-trained dog, obediently trotted away minutes after waking up; the way his current one persistently demanded attention was not only more akin to a bored child but also a novel experience.

The more he internally hissed at it to scurry, the more aware he became of his predicament. Restlessness lodged in his every bone as he writhed on the bed, staring at his butler's face.

He considered using his eye on Sebastian to get him to leave, but after rolling it around in his head for a few seconds, he discarded the idea; after all, even if he _did_ manage to get some alone time, the fact that he resorted to such measures to get it would invariably arouse suspicion. He had never once refused to get dressed before; his astute servant would be swift to draw the connection.

That only left one course of action: acting as though nothing was wrong and hoping that his pyjama pants were so loose that _it_ would escape Sebastian's attention.

His heart was a drum in his ears as he resolutely pulled back the sheets and sat up, the strain in his groin not going unnoticed. The boy's feet touched the floor and he let his eyes moodily trail over his butler's body, from the narrow hips over his long, elegantly-clad torso to his delicate face. Ciel dimly thought that it was of the same shade as the scrimshaw masks he had taken a liking to collecting, and arranged just as finely.

No muscle on this face moved; Sebastian waited patiently.

Ciel's knees felt wobbly when he stood up, as though they were not quite able to support the boy's weight. Ciel kept his eyes firmly trained on Sebastian's, willing, no, _ordering_ his butler not to look away and especially not... down. Ciel took one hesitant step toward his butler, who, upon seeing that his master was at last willing to cooperate, carefully folded the outerwear and suit on Ciel's bed.

Ciel snatched his undergarments from out of Sebastian's grasp. "I can put this on myself." His voice was as moody as ever, but was that a small _tremor_ in his voice? He narrowed his eyes at his butler. "Turn around."

Surprise spread on Sebastian's face, clear and slow like ink spilled on a silk blouse. He did as he was told, however, and twirled around slowly, turning his elegant back to his master.

Breath whistling between Ciel's teeth and gentle heat stinging his cheeks, he pushed down his silk pyjamas, revealing the source of his problem. Shame burned hot shivers down his spine as he saw it that it was still not showing any inclination to curl back up against him. Doing his best to ignore it, Ciel stepped into his undergarments and pulled it up past his calves and -

And Sebastian's voice cut through the tension with the precision of a scalpel. "Could it be that the young master is experiencing... problems?"

Ciel sucked in his breath sharply, freezing his movements. "What are you suggesting?"

"Forgive me for saying so," his butler went on, faint amusement wafting in his voice that didn't fail to prick Ciel's face like little hot needles, "but the young master seems to be displaying quite unusual behavior this morning. It has led me to suspect that he may be facing problems or difficulties. Please do not hesitate to ask me for assistance, whatever your problems may be."

Ciel's heart surged in his chest. "Mind your own business, Sebastian. You are nothing but my servant; it is not for you to decide what problems you may or may not assist me with."

A pause. "You _do_ admit to having problems, then, or am I reading this incorrectly?" Ciel didn't need to look into his face to know he was smiling. The butler didn't even wait for Ciel to give a verbal response before he continued, "Of course I would love to tend to only my own business, but I have to say with utmost regret that if these problems interfere with our schedule, they do, by extension, become _my_ business as well."

Ciel felt like he couldn't breathe, but fortunately he was a remarkable actor for his age. He turned his face to the side and snapped, "I have no problems."

Something seemed to come to Sebastian; his spine stiffened ever so slightly. "Ah." He then relaxed, his voice now drizzled with an emotion Ciel couldn't place. "Could it be that -" he paused. "It is not really my place to suggest this, but..." He turned his head to the side so that Ciel could see his jaw, his smooth cheeks, the profile of his narrow nose. His eyes slitted open and warm amber met royal blue. His eyes was low and intimate, like a caress ghosting over naked flesh. "Could it be that the young master is facing problems of the rather more, shall I say... _adult_ nature?"

Ciel's eyes widened.

It was all the answer Sebastian needed. "I see." He sighed, turning around slowly. "In that case, I suppose there is no option but to relieve you of these problems."

Dark premonition scuttled down Ciel's spine. "What are you saying?"

Sebastian demonstratively dropped his eyes and shame burned through the boy's body like a wildfire through a dry forest as his butler's eyes swept over his crotch. "It appears my suspicions were correct, young master." He sighed, but a tentative and polite smile soon returned. "I expected as much."

It became increasingly difficult for Ciel to keep his cool exterior. "What's that supposed to mean, Sebastian?" His right eye twitched. "Know your place, _servant_."

"Ah. You are thirteen years old now, young master. It is only natural that your body would start reacting this way. There is neither a need nor a reason to deny it."

Ciel raised his chin haughtily, defiance written all over his pretty face. "Shut up, Sebastian."

Sebastian cocked his head slightly, some of his silky black hair draping itself over his shoulder, amusement dusted over his face. Without warning, he took a step closer and Ciel had to summon his best forces of self-control to prevent himself from yelping and stumbling backward. The butler was still smiling pleasantly. "Whether I seal my lips or not, the fact still remains that this seems to be agitating you greatly, young master."

"I'm not agitated!" he ground out from between gritted teeth.

Sebastian kept coming closer, and _closer. _The expression on his face was not smug or threatening; instead it was polite and friendly, but that alone did nothing to relax the knot of nervousness that had been building in the bottom of Ciel's stomach_._ "Do forgive me for saying so, but you are clearly in no state to go about the day's schedule."

A beat. "I know that," Ciel barbed, finally giving in to his impulse to step back. A nervous tremor wormed its way into his voice. "If you'd just... if you had just left me alone for a while like I told you to, this problem would have resolved itself on its own."

Sebastian's voice remained neutral. "Are you positive, young master? It does appear to be a rather persistent problem." With that, he carefully slipped his right hand out of his glove, revealing his elegant fingers.

Heat swept over Ciel's face. "I'm _fine_."

Sebastian drew closer, bringing the warmth of his body right along with him. It tingled on Ciel's skin like a thousand ants racing up and down every part of exposed skin. Ciel took a step back, then another and another; when his legs collided with the bed, his breath hitched in his throat. Panic started to channel itself into his body, but the butler only took another step toward him and another until the young Phantomhive could_ feel _his demonic aura tingling on Ciel's skin and could smell his elusive scent and he smelled _good_, of roses and tea and all things nice and -

And he -

Ciel's eyes widened. His heart was on his tongue.

He - !

"Young master," Sebastian said submissively. Through the haze, Ciel saw him bowing slightly.

Was Ciel going to choke on his own heart?

The butler's left hand came to rest on Ciel's hip, steadying the boy and gently lowering him onto the bed. His hand paused near the small of Ciel's back, then skipped lightly over the hard bumps of vertebrae. Ciel shuddered at the feeling of that hand but what the _other_ hand was doing was causing things so much worse.

Ciel was reduced to being able to do nothing other than gape at the sight of his butler's hand sneaking into his undergarments and wrapping itself around his -

"S-Sebastian!" It came out as half a scream, half a groan; high-pitched with desperation but infused with the first forebodings of a new feeling. "Sebastian, w-what..._hah_...." The hand around his erection tightened, squeezing him. Something precariously close to a whimper managed to crawl out of his throat as the butler moved his hand up slowly, experimentally rolling the foreskin over the head.

A corset of complicated emotions bound itself around Ciel's torso. A haze settled over him and he was only half-aware of the fact that he flinched with every one of Sebastian's pumps as though he was being hit. Every time Sebastian's hand rolled over his erection, glaringly bright lights seemed to bore themselves into his body.

What - what he feeling? What _was_ this? He -

"Does it feel good, young master?" Sebastian whispered, his lips pressed against the crown of Ciel's head. "Do you wish me to stop?"

Did he?

"I - I!" Ciel raised his hand and clutched at the front of Sebastian's suit, pulling him down to eye-level. The face that looked back at him was distantly cold like it always was, although there was something else there, something -

"I...Seba-Sebastian...I...._nng.." _He dropped his hand, gnashing his teeth together as the shudders racing down his spine became more and more violent_. "..hah_...."

He didn't need to see himself to know that his cheeks were stained a gentle pink from the heat that had been dragged up deep within, didn't need a mirror to know his eyes were wide and unseeing and unfocused. He was swept up by his own feelings, feelings he had never felt before in his life, feelings that -

_ah_

- were so new and intense and...what _kind_ of feelings were they?!

Sebastian continued to pump him with his eyes obediently drawn to the floor. Ciel looked at him, at the way his long, black eyelashes splayed across his buttery cheeks, the way his bones were long and elegant and at his _lips_, those pink lips.

The young Phantomhive reached his hand to touch Sebastian's face but when another wave of - what was it? _Pleasure_? - crashed down upon him, he winced and let out an uncharacteristically feminine whimper. Hot shame burned down his spine, both from the noises he was making and the fact that his servant was in front of him, _pleasuring_ him, and because he was - he was -

_oh_

The thrusts got harder, faster and Ciel could feel his mind descending lower, lower, like strong hands digging sharp nails into it and tearing it down, making it stumble toward -

_mmh...hah...._

"Young master," Sebastian murmured, in a voice one might use to explain the concept of numbers to a pre-schooler. His voice slid like honey through Ciel's stomach, pooling golden between his legs. "You are almost there now. Almost there."

Ciel opened his mouth to say something, or maybe it was to scream or to whimper or to mewl, but only hot breath came out. His fingers found the front of Sebastian's uniform and he clenched it in his small fists, and while he writhed on the bed, mouth and eyes open for noises he could not make and things they could not see, his toes curling and uncurling, his fists shaking and knuckles strained and white, his orgasm finally hit.

Ciel's tightly-wired insides were shot through by brilliant shards of pleasure, sending arcs of rapture across the back of his eyes. Ciel couldn't see and he couldn't think; he could only _feel_, feel the way liquid stardust pumped through his veins in one perfect, weightless moment. He jerked his hips involuntarily and had he been able to see himself, he would have been embarrassed at the way he let out one long moan, the way his arms that supported his weight shook, the way his eyes were closed in sensual bliss, the way a silvery trail of saliva had slipped out of his mouth as he rode out his cascading orgasm.

The most perfect feeling he'd ever had ended much too soon.

The boy opened his eyes. Gasped. Stared at Sebastian.

His butler's eyes were flexed upon his hand on which white fluid was messily plastered. Without raising his eyes, the butler reached into his breast pocket, retrieved a white tissue and wiped every single one of his long, slim fingers until at last his hand was clean of the sticky substance. Then he pulled the glove back over his hand, unreadable expression on his face.

It wasn't very often that Ciel was speechless. This was one of those moments.

Sebastian finally raised his eyes and blue fused with amber out of the depths of which a bonfire shone, bright and ablaze. "I will take the liberty to assume that this was the first time you reached sexual climax. You will find that it is a very effective method to release unwanted tension, young master."

Ciel's eyes narrowed. Anger and shame waged a vicious war inside him and while he was sitting there, torn between two emotions, he did the only thing he could think of that made any kind of sense.

He gave him a resounding slap.

His eyebrows furrowed into a tense frown, Ciel's voice was strained, barely-containable temper quivering underneath. "Don't you _ever_ do that again, Sebastian."

His butler spent a moment pressing the back of his hand against his cheek with his eyes on the floor. "Forgive me, young master." He didn't sound all that apologetic, more neutral. "But you were right about what you said earlier."

Ciel's voice dropped to accommodate the needle it bore. "And what would that be?"

A small smile twitched at the sides of Sebastian's lips, countenance returning to him. "You told me to remember I was your servant. I did."

Ciel sucked in his breath audibly, waiting for his butler to go on.

Sebastian leaned forward; Ciel's spine stiffened at the invasion of his private space, but was rendered unable to pull back as the butler planted a gentle kiss on the boy's cheek. "I am but a humble servant, young master. It is my duty to help you with whichever problems you may face." His voice dropped even lower. "No matter when and no matter what they are."

Sebastian withdrew and the boy released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Ciel's voice was raw, scandalized. "You-you harlot."

Sebastian smiled. "I would have to disagree, young master. I am not a harlot; I am tied to no one but you. It is my duty to serve no one but you."

The boy scoffed. "So you're saying..." Ciel licked his lips. "You're saying that you will sexually service me whenever I want you to?"

"Precisely, young master."

Ciel snorted haughtily, throwing his head to the side and closing his eyes in moody arrogance. "Don't make me laugh."

"I fail to see the humour in it, young master."

Ciel slitted his eyes open, letting his eyes trail over Sebastian's features. His thoughts swirled back to what had transpired mere minutes ago and hot shame pulsed through his body at the vivid memory. No, he would not, _could_ not let this happen again; yes, he was not going to be enslaved by this, couldn't allow his own servant to please him that way, because it had been -

Something moved inside Ciel's chest and he crossed his arms over it as though trying to tame whatever it was that was inside. His heart was once again dancing at the back of his throat as he met his butler's eyes. He flinched as Sebastian put his hands gently on Ciel's shoulders and lifted him off the bed.

"In any case," the butler said, pulling the boy to his feet, "we should make you presentable."

Ciel's mind retreated as he felt Sebastian's hands, now clinical and detached, ran over his body as he dressed him in various articles of clothing, his movements a little more hurried than they normally were.

He didn't know why he did it, not really.

Maybe it was because, while Sebastian was dressing him and put his eye patch on him, the memory replayed over and over again in his mind, making Ciel want to flinch as hot red shame shot to his cheeks at the hazy recollection. Maybe it was because he drew in his breath involuntarily when Sebastian's hands smoothed out his clothing over his chest or maybe he felt something move in his chest whenever he caught a glimpse of Sebastian's right hand, saw the slim fingers tangle in the material of his clothes.

The most likely explanation, however, was that Ciel simply didn't know how else to express what he wanted to say.

He raised to his tiptoes, caught Sebastian by his tie and tugged at it, causing his butler's face to fly toward Ciel's with a look of pure surprise sprawled all over it. When Ciel pressed his lips firmly against Sebastian's, he could _feel_ more than see the expression of pure shock that flitted across his butler's face.

Time froze. Their lips were locked, their bodies rigid, every muscle tensed. Then the moment of perfect stillness shattered like brittle glass as Sebastian started to reciprocate, moving his lips against Ciel's in loving caresses. A wet tongue lapped at Ciel's lower lip, whose breath hitched in his windpipe.

Ciel's heart settled in his ears, pumping electrical blood through his veins as his own much smaller tongue slid against Sebastian's, settling by its side like a loyal companion before they started to tentatively rub against each other.

Sebastian tasted of roses and tea and something else that just sort of lingered in his mouth - the taste of _Sebastian,_ faint and unique, like a cross between sweet lemon punch and Oriental spices. His tongue was large and the kiss was wet and when Ciel started to increase the strength and speed of his jabs, growing more impatient in juvenile fervor, the butler's jaw went slack as he both allowed Ciel to explore his mouth as well as take complete control over the kiss. Ciel, in his inexperience, messily jabbed his tongue against Sebastian's, which was moving at a much slower pace. Getting impatient, Ciel pulled Sebastian's mouth down a little lower so that he could push in his tongue as far as it could go.

Ciel moaned quietly into Sebastian's mouth at the increased contact. His butler swallowed the sound, allowing his master to satisfy his curiosity and tolerating his sloppy, wet teenage kissing.

Ciel had never before kissed in his life, although he had, of course, heard many highly romanticized tales about it. On a purely physical level, compared to what had happened earlier, kissing was rather underwhelming: no stardust shot through his veins, no fire engulfed his hips, no lightning bolts of pleasure scissored through his body. But while sexual ecstasy was absent, there was something else, its presence so subtle that it took Ciel a while to notice.

Warmth. In his stomach. In his chest. The knot of nervousness in his stomach had startled to relax into a loose tangle of a few threads, making way for the fluttering feeling that had crept in instead. His heart was beating hard, like it had earlier, but it felt different still, it felt .... _sweet_. Pure.

Ciel's eyes flew open and tore his lips off of Sebastian's with a start, their lips making a wet sound as they split. They pulled a silver rope of saliva between their mouths for a moment, like the invisible chains their contract bound them with and always would. When the rope snapped, some of the glistening saliva splattered on Ciel's chin and Sebastian silently retrieved another tissue from his breast pocket and patted it dry, his eyes cast to the floor. Ciel made an annoyed sound at the back of his throat and turned his face to the side.

The tension hung above their heads heavily, like a veil of heat shimmering above the city at the height of summer.

Ciel had always thought of love and sexuality as human enslavement.

He may have been young, but he had always had two watchful eyes and he had seen what love and sex did to people around him. The fire in people's loins was what drove apart families, caused children to starve left alone with single parents unable to fend for them; it was love that made those children stay once they'd grown up, surrendering to yet more suffering. Wars were fought over love or sex or both; hearts were broken, discarded and stomped down. People were willing to steal and kill and maim and corrupt for a chance at love and Ciel had always known that he would stay far, far away from both because _he, _he had a mission, a purpose, and he refused to get enslaved by more things than he already was.

Ciel licked his lips.

But, perhaps if it was with Sebastian -

It was Sebastian who broke the silence this time. "Young master, I regret having to ask, but I will take the liberty to." He studied Ciel with a half-amused, half-curious expression on his face. "What inspired this?"

Sebastian was his. He'd never leave him. He wouldn't kill for sex because he already killed for him anyway; he wouldn't enslave him because he already _was_ enslaved to him. When it came to Sebastian, the damage had already been done.

And thus, he said it, but instead of what he really wanted to say, Ciel Phantomhive settled on communicating with his butler in the same way he always did. Rather than sentimentality, this was the language they both understood best.

"Don't think this meant what you think it did," Ciel drawled haughtily as he pushed past Sebastian and walked toward the door. "All it means is that I, unlike you, am not a harlot. I actually _kiss_ the people I have sexual relations with."

Sebastian perked up, picking up on the underlying message. He raised an interested eyebrow at his master.

Ciel ignored it. Once he was standing in front of the door, he turned around, studying his butler out of bored eyes. "What are you doing, Sebastian?" he barked moodily. "Open the door already. You're lucky I can't fire you for loitering."

Sebastian smiled and it ignited something inside Ciel, causing the boy to turn his head to the side. Sebastian hurried to the door and held it open, bowing with one arm pressed flat against his chest as the young Phantomhive marched out of the door.

"Thanks," Ciel muttered dismissively.

For a moment, Sebastian didn't raise from his bow, amused smile on his face.

"I am but a humble servant after all, young master."

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**Author's Ramblings**: According to my friend, what Ciel said in the end about kissing people he had sexual relations with totally translated to, _"Yeah that's right, I expect a good decent hand job every morning. That's an order." _And I think she _may_ have been right… Oh, God. xD

It was that same friend (LawlietxRinoa on this site) who suggested I add the kiss at the end of this chapter. My original draft of this fic only had Ciel giving Sebastian a small peck on the lips followed by a slap, so if you enjoyed the kiss, thank her. :-) (Or if you think that was terribly OOC… I wash my hands clean, haha xD; )

So.

This will probably become a multi-chapter because I just had way too much fun writing this _not_ to. I'm thinking I'll have more about Sebastian 'expanding' his services (and we all know what kinda services I'm talking about XD) and Ciel starting to give something back to his butler in the pleasure department. I usually have pages upon pages of outline for my stories because I take fan fiction writing more seriously than I probably should, but for this story, while I have ideas where I want it to go, nothing's set in stone yet. Feel free to leave ideas or suggestions for future chapters.

Thank you and 'till next time!

(And reviews make authors very happy in pants!)


	2. Enjoy the Ride!

**Author's Notes**: So, over a month later than I would have liked to upload this, here it finally is: chapter 2 of _But a Humble Servant._ :-)

First, let me say that I was completely amazed at the amount of feedback, attention and love this fic got. I've never written a non-parody/humor fic that got as much attention as this one. A heartfelt** thank you** to everyone who has reviewed, faved or alerted this thing and a welcome to all new readers just stumbling upon this smutty tale. I am completely in awe at how awesome you all are.

...did I say _smutty_ just now? :D That's right. This chapter is definitely smuttier than the first and while I know I may be alienating some of my readership with it, I just couldn't resist. One day, I just know it, _one day _I _will_ write that completely unsmutty, well plotted-out Kuroshitsuji fic. One day, yeah.

Until then? Let's have some fun. Nyah.

(and I apologize in advance for being mean to Ciel. _Again. O_o)_

**Warnings: **M for demanding!Ciel being demanding and sexy!Seba being sexy.

* * *

**But a Humble Servant**

**  
Chapter 2: Enjoy the Ride!  
**

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Something had changed between them.

Ciel had been rather slow to pick up on it; it hadn't been until a few days ago, when he'd watched Sebastian wipe off his hands with the same kind of half-amused, half-satisfied expression on his face, that Ciel had really been able to pinpoint what it was that had changed and even then, he had struggled with the right words with which to describe what _exactly_ it was.

Ciel had eventually decided that the the words _heightened tension_ were perhaps the best description for the changes that had infested themselves in their lives. It was like the air between them hung thick with every word spoken between them, trapped because neither was willing to open the window to resolution. Sebastian did a splendid job at ignoring the tension so casually and nonchalantly that Ciel would often narrow his eyes at his butler, feeling anger rub over his nerves like sand paper over brittle bone.

While he couldn't quite grasp the effect, Ciel was very well aware of the cause of their new level of interaction: that one morning a month ago. On that morning, they had very clearly overstepped the boundaries as master and servant they had been precariously balancing along the edges of for many months beforehand. A connection between them had been there all along, perhaps even something like an _attraction_, too, but that one action had stripped it of all its disguises and dragged the raw attraction into the open where it had coalesced like a malignantly humming force in the air. Its effects had been immediate, too: that day, while Sebastian had gone about his usual business with inhuman precision, Ciel had spent the majority of the day floundering on the scary possibilities the future held. He had so openly snapped and sneered and scowled at the drop of a heat that even _Maylene_ had picked up on the mood change between them and had drawn in her head in a way that had reminded Ciel of tropical turtles.

He frowned.

When he put his hand against the window and watched the rain fall from the sky and the wind whip the trees, he forced his mind to go blank. The rain drops lolled to tears on the glass, gleaming like crystals beneath the evening sun. Ciel breathed against his own hand, feeling the warmth skitter along the surface and drawing goosebumps in its way. Ciel dimly thought that, with the way the rain was splattering against the glass, the clatter of the horses' hooves pounding the forest ground and the slight vibration pulsing through the carriage, it would have been easy to close his eyes and stumble toward the hazy embrace of sleep.

If, that was, he was ever going to allow himself to fall asleep with _Sebastian_ sitting right across from him. At least lately.

As though he had been able to read his thoughts, Sebastian's smooth voice reached his ears. "Have you been sleeping well, young master?" His voice was as pleasant as always, but an amused tone rode atop the sweet politeness.

Ciel bit his lip, but managed to keep the moody drawl out of his voice. "Why are you asking, Sebastian? Not bad, considering." His eyes never left the window; he noticed that the hand pressed up against it was small, its palms disproportionally large compared to the short, thin fingers. The mark of a child's hand.

"It seems you've been having dreams lately. Have your nightmares returned?"

When Ciel withdrew his hand, he left a small, hazy imprint behind that soon collapsed upon itself as rain drops bled into it. "You know very well that isn't why."

The carriage was awash with a satiny blue glow as the sun light filtered through the heavy curtains. From the edges of Ciel's eyes, he could see it glint off the blue in Sebastian's hair when it wreathed around him, melting the ebony with flashes of electricity. "Are you satisfied with our purchases, young master? It does appear that the cloak we bought may be a bit too long on you; in this case, would you like me to shorten it?" Sebastian stopped, pursing his lips. "It would appear you weren't quite tall enough to purchase cloaks meant to be worn by adults just yet, young master."

"Sebastian," Ciel replied, moodily closing his eyes and suppressing the anger threatening to lace his voice. "Are you calling me a _child_?" He slitted his eyes open, one eye sliding to the side to fix his butler with a glare.

Sebastian flashed him his trademark smile, that little curling of his lips. Ciel had always felt that there was something so_ fake_ about it that it walked along the border to condescension. "I mean to imply no such thing," Sebastian said and Ciel could tell he was enjoying it. "However, the fact stands true that the young master is only thirteen years old."

Ciel's voice whistled between teeth of condemnation. "Shut up."

Everything Sebastian said or did should have been submissive - after all, he really wasn't in any position to rebel - but for some reason, 'submission' was perhaps the very last word to come to mind when looking at his elegant form and finely-featured face. 'Confidence', and unabashed one at that, was a far more apt word to describe him with. He was so sure of his abilities that, even when he was following Ciel's orders, something was so very supercilious about him at all times; whether it the way he held his head high, the way that skeptical smile played on his lips, the way he managed to irritate Ciel with just a few well-chosen words -

"Have I struck a chord, young master?"

There had been a time when, for all the impression the world had made on Ciel, his eyes could have been dead black holes. He had gone about his business so mechanically, with only sweets and the occasional enjoyable meal punctuating his dull gray days with moments of pleasure, that, at times, it had felt like Ciel Phantomhive was merely a vessel for whatever soul was left after the _life_ had long been stripped from him.

Now, things were different - while the world hadn't gotten significantly more exciting, _Sebastian_ certainly had.

Ciel, who for years had been molding his face into a perfect mask of apathy, had gotten into the habit of letting his treacherous eyes betray him with their lingering gazes, their occasional flares of unsolicited anger and their deeply-hidden conflict silently warring beyond the glassy surface. Sebastian's aura, power, presence, his _everything_, had gotten so quick at slipping past his defenses and wreaking their havoc that Ciel found no other solution but to make feeble attempts at rebuilding the barrier that lay crumbled around him, sharpening its edges to spires.

He felt his hidden eye burning with the magic brewing beyond as anger stirred inside him. "Sebastian." Just one tightly-corded cord, but the poison beneath was evident.

Sebastian lightly skipped over the warning. "If the young master wishes me not to shorten the cloak we purchased, I will heed his word." Again, that smile. "Perhaps I will -"

A gremlin of inspiration sparked in Ciel's brain. His face was as apathetic as usual, but his voice took on a darker, more dangerous tone. "You said about twenty minutes until we reached home, didn't you?"

"We should reach the estate in about eighteen minutes now, young master," Sebastian informed him smoothly. "Would you like me to tell you the schedule for the rest of the day?"

Ciel turned his head back to the window, seeing the sun set in the horizon and tainting it pink. "I already know." Irritation drizzled his voice. "You already recited it to me three times since I've gotten up." His eyes slipped back to Sebastian, resting there, and only the very observant would have seen the blue in his eye shift when he deadpanned, "Do it."

Sebastian understood. Immediately.

Ciel could tell from the way the understanding flashed behind his eyes like light racing along the surface of brittle glass, the way his lips dropped into a surprised 'oh'. It didn't take long, however, before the expression of bewilderment was chased away by one of placid politeness. Ciel was pretty sure he was the only one who could have seen the amusement needling just beneath the surface. "What do you speak of, young master?"

Ciel made an angered noise at the back of his throat. "You know very well. You're my servant, Sebastian." His eyes narrowed at Sebastian, daring him to refuse as he bit out, "Service me."

The words thickened in the air, solidified and wrapped around Ciel's face like a towel drenched in hot water as the seconds ticked past and neither moved. For a moment, for one terrible moment only, Ciel feared that Sebastian, against all odds, really _would_ refuse; soon, however, as Ciel had rationally known he would, Sebastian's face split into another friendly smile and he said, "Yes, my lord."

Ciel's heart rate picked up speed as Sebastian leaned forward, bringing his by now so familiar body heat with him. A distant part of Ciel's mind wondered why no one else ever noticed that Sebastian wasn't human; his heated aura first pricked Ciel's skin, then seeped through his skin into him, filling him like a corporeal thing and making him fight against the urge to -

_(snuggle up closer to)_

- _shrink away_ from it.

Ciel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Shadows fell over both of them as Sebastian drew the curtains. When his butler leaned forward, placing one hand on the dark blue material of the seats on Ciel's side of the carriage, Ciel found himself unable to do anything other than watch as Sebastian stretched his body like a cat for just one moment before he swung over to Ciel's side of the carriage, sitting right next to the boy. To Ciel, it looked like his eyes were bright as the heart of fire.

Ciel drew his chin to the side as he felt heat ghosting its fiery fingers across his cheeks. He felt nervousness twisting in his stomach - while their 'encounters', as Sebastian liked to refer to them as, had settled into the Phantomhive estate as a practiced routine to be done most mornings and some evenings when Ciel had trouble sleeping, this situation was different in that it was the first time Ciel had ever _requested_ it.

He had always, always, seen the potential to use it as a weapon - but it hadn't been until now that Ciel had tried to utilize it as such.

Ciel turned away from Sebastian, blue eye dismissively flexed upon the curtains. His heart was beating in tune with the sound of the hooves slapping the ground as Sebastian shifted, slowly scooting closer and _closer_ still. A breath crushed against Ciel's teeth as he felt Sebastian's hot breath blazing along the side of Ciel's neck and -

_Oh. Goosebumps_.

- and the other hand was on Ciel's chest and Ciel had asked for this, had requested this, so it really shouldn't have been surprising, and it _wasn't_, not really, but he still couldn't help the little gasp as Sebastian's hand curled around the front of his cloak, drawing it apart as he undid it and letting his fingers slide along the material of the silk blouse Ciel wore underneath. His butler's fingers seemed to reach through the material and through Ciel's skin right to his spine, where they flicked off sparks of cold and wet showers that scuttled down his spine in periodic intervals. Sebastian's right hand slid down lower, _lower_, but Ciel couldn't focus on that now because his _lips_ were suddenly next to Ciel's ear and he could feel him, _smell him_, and Ciel's heart pulsed in his ears.

Sebastian descended on Ciel's neck, lacing it with kisses and hot, trailing licks.

"S-Sebastian." Ciel's fingers clenched around Sebastian's shoulders as he involuntarily turned to Sebastian, seeking more contact. Ciel's voice got breathless as he cursed himself for _still_ reacting the way he did to Sebastian's closeness, for_ still _surrendering so much of his usual defense. "S-Seba - _oh_." His eyes widened a little.

Ciel could feel Sebastian grinning against his neck as his fingers slowly tweaked the buttons of Ciel's shorts open, then teased over the hem of Ciel's undergarments, fingertips brushing along the flat plane of the boy's stomach. Ciel's body tensed at the contact, his still underdeveloped abdominal muscles protruding slightly against his skin.

When Sebastian sucked a little harder on Ciel's neck, softly digging his teeth into the sensitive skin, clarity finally cut through the haze into Ciel's brain and he pushed Sebastian away with a start, hard enough for the butler to retreat with a surprised look on his face.

Ciel's hands few to the side of his neck, eyes narrowed in anger. His voice rang low and dangerous. "What are you _doing_, Sebastian?"

Sebastian tilted his head a little, his mane of black hair glittering against his shoulder. Ciel felt the irrational impulse to brush it away, to feel it trickle through his fingers like rain. "Young master - you were not in a state of sexual excitement when you requested pleasure," Sebastian said, in that voice that could only be described as _smooth_ and _soft or -_

_- or the auditory equivalent of china tea cups_, Ciel thought dully. Right now, he wanted to do nothing more but smash them into a million glittering pieces.

Instead of exploding into pieces, though, Sebastian's voice was as controlled as ever when he added, "It seems my closeness arouses you."

Ciel grit his teeth. "I'm not _aroused_." He haughtily raised his chin, glaring at Sebastian from beneath his lashes. "Your presence makes me... _nervous_, that's all."

Sebastian gave him an amiable smile. "Is that so, young master?"

"Yes. Yes, it is and I -"

Sebastian's hand, which had remained in his pants, dipped lower and brushed against his - and Ciel's eyes widened because he was -

_Oh._

Ciel felt Sebastian moving closer and pressing his chin against the crown of Ciel's head. His voice was so low and intimate that the slapping of the hooves almost - _almost _- drowned it out. "Erotic dreams at night are not the only way to get erections, young master. It appears you have started to sexually respond to me and my presence."

Ciel could practically_ hear_ the smile on his face. His stomach twisted, revulsion and darker things tying his stomach into a complicated knot.

"There is nothing to be worried about, young master. Please do not feel ashamed, for this is a perfectly natural reaction. In fact, you -"

Ciel's voice trembled with barely-contained rage. "I believe I didn't ask you to make _my ears bleed_ with your impertinent yapping." He fixed his butler with an arrogant look and then said with as much finality as he could muster, "_Get to it already_."

An interesting expression surfaced on Sebastian's face; Ciel couldn't tell if it was on the verge of a smile or a skeptical sneer. Sebastian drew his eyes to the floor of the carriage in his typical brand of faux-submission. His hand tightened its grip around Ciel.

_hm_

Ciel's muscles snapped into tightly-corded tension at the feeling of Sebastian's hand squeezing him gently with every movement. It felt familiar by now, almost routine; Sebastian's palm was a perfect fit, but at the same time, it still felt new, exciting and _so good_ that a sweet laziness lodged in Ciel's every muscle.

Sebastian's hair wavered in Ciel's vision, like a picture drawn in ink that had been rained on. The sun light that streamed in from outside had dimmed, bathing Sebastian in semi-darkness that seemed to close in on him. The expression on his face was - it was -

"S-Sebastian!" Ciel ground out, hand flying to his lap. He wrapped his hands around Sebastian's, stopping his butler's rhythmic movements. He felt the tide of pleasure ebb away enough for Ciel to take heaving breaths and his vision to swim back into sharp focus.

"Yes, young master?" Sebastian asked politely, one eyebrow arched in a skeptical way; Ciel felt anger buds blossoming again as his eyes fused with Sebastian's, silent electricity passing between them until the tension built up between them.

Ciel knew why he had stopped Sebastian, knew his course of action - but he drew what followed out on purpose, wanting to savor this moment and imprint every little reaction of Sebastian's into his mind, to be at his disposal for constant reruns later on. "No, not like this," Ciel said, lips pursed into a condescending sneer and head tilted back. His voice dripped malice as he added, "With your _mouth._"

And through the pricks and needles that followed that statement, it took Sebastian a few seconds to find his voice again. He titled his head. "You wish me to _orally_ pleasure you, young master?"

If Ciel hadn't been a master at keeping his features apathetic, he would have gloated. "That's right."

The light of realization flooded Sebastian's eyes. "Ah, yes." A knowing smile wound itself around his lips. "I suppose humans think of it as _humiliating_, don't they? Do you wish to punish me for making you react to me, young master?"

Heat blasted into Ciel's cheeks. "It's got nothing to do with that. Just... just do it." His eye twitched. "It's an _order_."

Sebastian gave himself unimpressed. "An order, you say...Well, then..."

He leaned forward slightly, smothering Ciel with his body heat for just a moment before he slowly slid down off the bench. His knees sunk toward the floor, sly little smile on his face as he folded his hands on either side of Ciel's hips.

Sebastian's hand dropped to Ciel's ankle, then danced back up over his calves to -

_gasp_

- to his thighs, slipping one hand between them. And while Sebastian gently pried Ciel's legs apart and eased his body right between them, Ciel's heart was singing in his ears so loudly that he almost didn't hear Sebastian say, with a lick of his lips and a flicker in his demonic eyes, "Yes, my Lord."

Sebastian seemed completely unabashed, yes, seemed to be _enjoying_ it, when he lifted Ciel with one arm snaked around his waist and gently pushed down his shorts with the other.

Ciel had to look away when his shorts were pulled down far enough to expose him, although a part of him knew it was silly. After all, his butler had seen him naked hundreds, _thousands_ of times and Sebastian had always treated his naked body with impeccable professionalism, barely slipping a spare glance down when kneeling before Ciel and rinsing his body with soap. Back then, Ciel had never once felt that little burn of heat staining his cheeks with that dreaded evidence of embarrassment.

Ciel being both very breathless and very _hard_ really seemed to make all the difference here.

Sebastian's smile was as slow and sweet as honey as he dipped his head down. Ciel drew in a harsh breath, expecting to feel the heat of Sebastian's mouth around him any minute, but -

A tremble shook through him at the touch - even though Sebastian's tongue wasn't where he had expected it to be.

"Sebastian," Ciel growled after the pleasurable chill had subsided. "What are you doing licking my _thighs_?"

Ciel could tell that Sebastian was smiling from the way his lips curled against the sensitive skin of his upper thigh. "I believe humans call it 'foreplay_',_ young master."

After a while of watching Sebastian nibble at the crook of his thighs and teasing him with his breath, Ciel, with a quiet groan, brusquely bucked his hips, making his erection slip out of Sebastian's hand and up higher, actually _poking _Sebastian's cheek with it. "Quit this nonsense."

Sebastian froze, then raised his eyes. Their gazes, Ciel's jittery like a bird's and Sebastian's composed and unreadable like a cat's, slid together, entering a silent war.

"Young master." It was the first time in a while that Ciel saw Sebastian visibly wavering between amusement and irritation; the scales eventually dipped in amusement's favour, and he shook a strand of loose black hair out of his face. "That was not very nice." Was it Ciel's imagination or had his eyes flashed ruby red for just one second?

Ciel wrinkled his nose in irritation. "I cannot stand servants who waste time," he said, trying very hard to keep the excited tremble out of his voice. "It's truly a shame that -" He saw Sebastian smile and his head went lower, lower and - "-that you are...so -" And then there it was, that flash of pink tongue darting down to take a long lick and all of Ciel's thoughts, all to the very last, tumbled out of his head and scattered to his feet. "_Mh! Uh_... _" _His eyes widened._ "Oh_."

_oh. wet. hot. mouth._

It felt decidedly different from having Sebastian pleasure him manually. His mouth was so much softer, the tongue so swift, probing here and there, then running along the length and circling the top. The heat of Sebastian's tongue was thick and heady and the feel of his lips soft as pillows. If manual stimulation was as pleasurable as chocolate, surely _this_ had to be the sensory equivalent of the finest Belgian chocolate cake.

Ciel's mouth hung open and had he been able to see himself, he would have been embarrassed at how his eyes were glazed-over with lust, how a delirious expression had settled on his face that softened his lines and made him look even younger, how he made soft encouraging noises and how even the occasional mewl and feminine whimper escaped his throat whenever Sebastian's tongue -

_oh. tongue._

- swirled around the tip or gave him an especially long and thorough suck with his lips locked tightly around him. Ciel jerked back against his seat, back colliding with the carriage until the vibrations of it seemed to rattle through his every bone. It was not just the sensation itself - it was also the _knowledge_ that gave Ciel a chill of pleasure, the knowledge that Sebastian was on his knees with his lips wrapped around Ciel's most intimate body part and working his tongue and lips to give him pleasure, doing it for him, just for him, while_ he _could lean back and enjoy the ripples of euphoria darting through his body like a little king.

Only that Ciel was so caught up in his pleasure that he would remember most of it as little more than a blur.

Some of Sebastian's silky black hair fell down like a curtain, obscuring part of Ciel's view. Even so, Ciel was mesmerized by the sight; by his pale skin, by the way his lips were pursed around him, the way his long lashes splayed across his now hollow cheek bones. Worst of all, as usual, were the -

Ciel fidgeted in his seat. _so good. yes._

- eyes, of course. They were open while Sebastian bobbed his head up and down, boring themselves into Ciel's eyes without doubt. It felt so... _intimate_ to be looking into his eyes in this situation and Ciel felt his heart surge. Something _raw_ shone in those eyes, something almost instinctual, something -

And then the carriage hit a bump, Ciel's body jerked upward with a shriek and his erection hit the back of Sebastian's throat.

Ciel's mouth dropped into a quiet 'oh', his eyes impossibly wide and unseeing at the spark of pleasure piercing his loins.

_ah. hot. tight. oh._

Ciel tangled his hands in the web of hair to his feet, grasping some of the strands and feeling them slide through his fingers. He tugged on them so harshly that he tore out a few strands they would later find scattered inside the carriage, but right now Ciel's thoughts were on only one thing: the impending orgasm that had started to build up, raising the pressure inside his body. He could visualize himself standing to the feet of a bright, glowing tower made of sparkly gold and he was constantly getting closer to the top, being catapulted higher and higher and -

Then Sebastian pulled back, tore his skull out of Ciel's grip on it and Ciel's level of arousal flat-lined.

A sparkly trail of saliva spun between the tip of his tongue and Ciel's wet erection. The smile around Sebastian's lips was slow, seductive; the gleam in his eyes, however, was wild, almost feral. "Young master, what do you wish me to do with it?"

Ciel blinked. _mouth. yes. no, what?_ "What?"

The rope of saliva snapped. "With your ejaculate, young master. It won't take long now until you reach climax." He paused, then asked in a voice so polite he could have been asking Ciel about his preferred choice of dessert, "Do you wish for me to swallow it?"

Ciel was so overwhelmed that he even forgot to get angry. "S-Swallow?" Ciel pondered this for a moment, his hips still bucking involuntarily, his neglected erection a dull ache in his groin interfering with his higher thought processes. "What... what's it taste like?" Should he have Sebastian swallow it? But, wasn't it... would it taste gross? Or sweet like the milk it so resembled? Ciel liked milk... hm. Tongue.

Sebastian just shook his head. "It won't be too bitter, considering your diet. I'll show you, young master."

With that, he swiftly dipped his head back down and Ciel let out a soft moan as the conversation they'd just had was deleted from his short-term memory. Ciel was only half-aware of the fact that he had Sebastian's skull in a tight grip, that he was bucking his hips, that he was muttering nonsensical things under his breath - but what he _was _aware of was the fact that his stomach was tightening, his every muscle tensed, and since his very first orgasm at Sebastian's hand, he knew that it meant that he was close, so _close_, that there was no turning back now.

Ciel writhed against the carriage, his mouth hanging open and his eyes clenched shut as he concentrated on the sensations racing toward their peak. Sweat had started to pearl on his body; brilliant drops that trailed down his temples and gathered in the crook of his neck. His muscles were tensed so tightly that his entire body shivered.

And _just_ before Ciel reached his peak, the carriage hit another bump and Ciel let out a low hiss as he was jerked upward, once again feeling himself buried to the hilt inside Sebastian's mouth. His butler adjusted gracefully, relaxing his throat muscles to let him pass, then fastened his lips around him and let out the first sound he'd made since going down on Ciel, a low little purr from the back of his throat. Ultimately, it was _that_ sound and the way it reverberated through his body that finally catapulted Ciel toward that blinding light until it engulfed him completely for one perfect, weightless moment.

Ciel came quietly this time - after the first time, he had learned to keep the volume down - but the broken moan he wouldn't release shattered in his throat, echoing the twisting of the pit of fever inside him. While he did not moan, low mewls and quiet gasps ripped from his throat and his eyes were clenched shut as his heels drummed against the floor. Shards of pleasure flashed behind his eyelids that slowly dimmed in its brilliance and eventually scattered completely, leaving Ciel breathless and gasping, small shudders still scuttling down his spine as he rode out the last waves of pleasure.

As though it was a reflex or even an instinct, Ciel's hips kept thrusting upward in broken motions even after the orgasm had subsided completely; it was only when he felt soft pressure against his cheek that he realized that Sebastian was no longer on his knees and that he was in fact right _next_ to him.

And when Ciel snapped his head around, alarmed at the sudden proximity, that's when Sebastian leaned into him and gently pressed his lips to Ciel's in the second kiss they had ever shared.

Something in Ciel's stomach twisted - _wait a minute, **kissing**, they hadn't done that since - !_ _They weren't supposed to_ -_ !_ -but when he opened his mouth to protest, Sebastian's tongue was right next to his and that _feeling_ was back, that inexplicable little thrill that came with kissing Sebastian, like a warm sponge wringing itself out over his chest. With a sigh, Ciel opened his mouth wider to allow Sebastian entrance and noticed that Sebastian tasted... _different_.

Ciel gave a muffled cry, his hands digging into Sebastian's shoulder; but whether it was to push him away or draw him closer, Ciel didn't know. The fluid that had been on Sebastian's tongue slowly dropped onto Ciel's as their tongues fused, hitting the taste buds at the front of Ciel's tongue.

Ciel's body tightened at the taste and he gripped Sebastian's shoulders harder. He only noticed that he was squirming so hard he was slipping off the seat and dragging Sebastian right along with him when his knees connected with the floor.

Despite the instinct of revulsion burying itself into his stomach, curiosity got the better of Ciel. With a muffled little moan, he began to sample the fluid that gathered on Sebastian's tongue, rolling it over his own. It tasted faintly sweet when it hit the front of his tongue, but he coughed and scrunched up his face when it turned bitter at the back of it. He swallowed only a little and passed the rest back to Sebastian.

The butler graciously accepted it along with the curious tongue of his master that followed. Although Sebastian's mouth tasted overwhelmingly of ejaculate, faint traces of his unique taste were hiding underneath and Ciel set out to search for it, jabbing his tongue so messily into Sebastian's mouth that trails of mixed saliva and semen escaped, smearing both of their chins. Ciel tangled his fingers in Sebastian's hair and pulled him down, closer and closer, until Sebastian was on all fours and Ciel beneath him, weight precariously balanced on his tail bone until Sebastian gave him a slight push that sent Ciel sprawling.

Ciel's eyes widened as his back collided with the floor of the carriage, but before he had a chance to snap at Sebastian for it, his butler had already descended upon him, capturing his lips into another kiss while gently drying his chin with another tissue he had drawn from his pocket.

Sebastian's kisses were so much more refined than his own messy and overzealous ones, Ciel noticed. When Sebastian's tongue slipped into his mouth, it was less like an invasion than it was a gentle greeting and the way he would close his mouth over Ciel's and draw back his tongue to nibble on his lower lip or suck on his tongue spoke of years of experience and skill. His kisses were like chocolate, Ciel decided - chocolate was like a warm stream of pleasure flowing over the tongue that left a lasting sensation behind and Sebastian's kisses were _just_ as slow and lingering. The total opposite, he had to admit, of how he himself kissed.

And suddenly, Ciel realized that they were total opposites in more ways than just one and when that insight sank in, he broke the kiss with a gasp.

Ciel looked at Sebastian, eyes wide and glittering, lips smeared with saliva, vibrant pink dragged over his cheek.

Sebastian looked at Ciel. Calm. Controlled. Except for... what was that in his _eyes_?

"Why did you do this?" Ciel hissed once he found his voice. His mouth tasted strange and he wrinkled his nose as he swallowed the rest of the ejaculate that had been left in his mouth during the coupling of their mouths.

He started to understand now.

"I merely wanted to introduce you to the taste, young master," Sebastian answered smoothly, his lips descending to Ciel's neck and the boy gave a choked little sigh as the -

(_demon's_?)

- _butler's_ lips pressed against his jugular, against the heady pulse of Ciel's heart. "Demons quite enjoy the taste of human ejaculate, young master." His lips vibrated against Ciel's neck. "In the same way we enjoy that of blood. It's the taste that comes closest to that of _souls_."

Ciel gave a soft moan, writhing a little under Sebastian and only half-realizing he was willingly exposing his jugular.

It didn't matter that he was a child, Ciel thought. It was of no concern to the equation, because Ciel was as much of a child as Sebastian was his butler and as much an adult as Sebastian a demon. They were like two little coins with two different side someone had made a bet on spinning atop a table at a bar; neither of them could anticipate which side the coin would settle on. The two sides of who they were, the coins of their personality, were in constant rotation between them when they were together, and_ only_ when they were together.

Only with Sebastian. Only with _Sebastian_. And when Ciel looked down at Sebastian, at his beautiful face half-buried in the crook of Ciel's neck and his hair draped across his chest, Ciel somehow _knew_ that Sebastian had realized it all long ago.

And while he was in the middle of this small epiphany, Sebastian, with a few well-chosen words, ran his thoughts into a wall. "Young master, we have arrived."

It was only a minor exaggeration to say that Ciel almost choked at that. "_What_?!" He pushed Sebastian off of him with a start. "What? Why didn't you tell me?!" He blinked, throwing dizzy glances around the carriage and finally noticing that the vibration had stopped.

"I was under the impression that you were enjoying yourself, young master."

Ciel jumped to his feet with an irritated growl, hectically tugging at his clothes and combing his hair with his fingers. "That - that doesn't even matter," he pressed out between desperate tugs at the bow in front of his cloak. "What if Finnian had come to check on us?"

Sebastian raised to his feet and gently removed Ciel's hands, smoothing down Ciel's clothes for him. "Young master, Finnian never does. It is not his responsibility to help you out of the carriage." He smiled at Ciel as he fastened the boy's shorts around his hips. "I'm sure he isn't suspicious."

Annoyance surfaced on Ciel's face. "Whatever. Hurry up already!" He moodily ripped Sebastian's hands away, then turned to the door of the carriage, waiting for Sebastian to open it.

When they spilled into the open, it was still not completely dark yet, but the chill that hung in the air was brutal, sneaking through Ciel's clothes and crystallizing along his limbs like ice. He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself, his mood hitting another low point. He was just about to storm into the mansion without waiting for Sebastian when he felt a nudge to his side and saw Sebastian gingerly holding the coat they'd bought out to him.

Ciel's heart sang in Ciel's ears, but he swallowed the sound and merely stared at Sebastian, mask of apathy firmly set into place. "Is this some kind of symbol, Sebastian?"

Sometimes, Ciel hated that Sebastian's smiles could be so unreadable even to him. "Perhaps if the young master would like it to be."

Ciel snatched the cloth out of Sebastian's hand, closing his eyes as though suffering from a migraine. "Didn't I tell you not to talk nonsense?!"

The smile never faltered and then, when Ciel slowly slitted his eyes open and met the full force of his butler's eyes, the world seemed to become insignificant. The night air that had wrapped him into its chilly cocoon dissolved, the quiet hum of the insects around them dimmed and the scent of flowers that always hung around the mansion like a shimmering veil got replaced by that of Sebastian. Their eyes met in silence; Ciel's resistant at first, hard as a steel door, but the longer they looked, the more Ciel could feel his own door cracking, splaying the first rays of light on the floor. It wasn't the first time that Ciel thought he could see something in Sebastian's eyes, something he couldn't place and something that scared him, but something he knew to be significant in some twisted way.

And as it always was with epiphanies, it didn't so much come to Ciel gently as whack him over the head, leaving him stunned for a second.

In a way, they weren't all that different, Ciel thought with his eyes slightly widened. He, Ciel, was forced to be so much more than he was and Sebastian so much less. But, for better or worse, the disguise that fitted tight and snuggled up against them had started to swallow what lay underneath, blurring the lines between truth and reality. Tainted forever, they were creatures trapped in the hazy plane of not-quites that lay cradled between reality and disguise.

Ciel swallowed, probing Sebastian's eyes with his own while one question kept echoing in his mind, replaying all over and over again in his head.

If you pretended long enough to be something you weren't, at which point did you actually become what you were pretending to be? Demon or butler, child or adult. Who was to tell you that you were lying? Who could judge? Butler or demon, adult or child. Wasn't reality... what they _made_ it to be?

And then, just for one moment, Ciel considered saying something that, in retrospect, would have likely been really stupid. Just for one moment, emotions were bubbling in his blood and it would have been so easy to open his mouth and release them, so easy, only a flick of tongue away, nothing more -

Until, of course, the moment was sliced through by Finnian's voice with the precision of a scalpel.

"Heeey, young master!"

Ciel jumped back as though he had been caught doing something vile and whirled around on the spot, eyes searching for the source of that voice.

Finnian was running toward them with a sunny grin on his face and his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "Hey!" He came to a halt in front of Ciel and Sebastian, scratching the back of his head, apologetic grin on his face. "I'm sorry about earlier, young master. We hit some bumps - it seems the weather was a bit rough today." He leaned forward a bit, balancing on his toes, the grin now morphing into a more approval-seeking one. "I trust you still had a nice ride?!"

Ciel's lower lip quivered. "What?!"

Finnian sent a confused look to Sebastian, who was standing to Ciel's side and suddenly seemed very interested in the manor's roof. "The-the ride, young master. Was it -"

"Oh!" Ciel's voice quivered with barely-controlled rage. "_Shut up!_"

With that, he turned on his heel and stormed off toward the mansion, muttering on his breath.

Finnian looked downright shocked, eyes wide and wet. "Sebastian, did I say something wrong?! Is the young master angry?"

Sebastian considered saying something then, but decided against it, settling on a mild smile. "Don't worry. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it just fine." He didn't need to worry about the little needling amusement in his voice giving anything away, anyway - because Finnian wasn't Ciel, and there was no one other than his master who could tell.

Sebastian gave another curt nod to Finnian, then trailed after the small figure of his master walking in the distance.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** So, let's just hope that I won't take as long to write the next chapter... *sweatdrop*

Speaking of next chapter... *squints at crystal ball* Oh... is this - ?! I'll be damned... do I see... do I see Sebastian finally getting off, too?! :D

(And reviews make authors ecstatic in pants!)


	3. How To Outtrick Your Pet Demon

**Author's Notes**: I BET YOU ALL DIDN'T THINK I WAS EVER GONNA UPDATE AGAIN, HUH???

O.o

I-I have no excuse. I'M SO SORRY, EVERYONE, TREATING YOU LIKE THIS AFTER YOU'VE ALL BEEN SO GOOD TO ME, BAWW. B-But here it is! And earlier than I thought, too -- I had been planning on posting this on Christmas, but then decided to post it for Thanksgiving instead.

This was beta-read by Hedonistic Opportunist, who is totally awesome and deserves reviews more than me. (as such, please find her in my favorites and take a look-see). ^^

Now.

Summary of _But a Humble Servant_ for those who don't want to slosh through the outdated writing style of the first 2 chaps/can't be bothered to reread them:

_In chapter 1, Ciel wakes up with an erection only to have it 'relieved' by Sebastian, which, as we find in chapter 2, evolved into a full-blown affair. Sebastian calls it being a faithful servant of the Phantomhive house; we may call 911 on him for child abuse. Anyway, Ciel soon discovers the way Sebastian's subservience can be used as a weapon, and orders him to 'pleasure him orally' (as Sebastian puts it) or 'suck his cock' (as we would put it). And then, 2 chapters and 2 over-described orgasm of purpletasm later, we rejoin our heroes in chapter 3. Hey, it can't get any worse, can it?_

I wrote a short Bard and Finnian-centric companion piece to _But a Humble Servant_ by the name of _Fool's Suspicion_, by the way. :-) If you're interested or something.

* * *

**But a Humble Servant**

**Chapter 3: How to Outtrick your Pet Demon**

* * *

Fall imperceptibly coalesced with the chills of winter, and before long, the Phantomhive estate that had cradled in the carnival of fall stood swathed in the color-stripped sun of the darkest season.

The inhabitants of said mansion had slid into the change with relative ease. Finnian had decided he liked ice skating (the fact that he kept sliding off the lake and making a row of trees lining it fall down like dominos notwithstanding), Bard was delighted to be able to switch to warmer cuisine, and Maylene seemed particularly happy that Sebastian had decided to assist her with the task of heating the house. Sebastian gave her a thin smile after helping her with the fireworks before going on his way, inwardly thinking that _really_, it _would_ be a shame if the mansion burned down because of her: he always _had been_ fond of some of the paintings in the hallways, after all.

Aforementioned minor quirks aside, the five inhabitants of the Phantomhive manor spent the winter days in as much peace as could be expected of them. _Except, of course,_ that for the few weeks leading up to the young master's birthday, there had been a certain tension thrumming in the house that _everyone_ had been distantly aware of.

The upcoming 14th anniversary of his birth had careened the young master into a mood dire enough to snap and sneer at Sebastian even _more_ viciously than he usually did, and this caused the rest of the household to tiptoe around the mansion like it was a field full of active war-time mines scattered about. Indeed, much of the mansion seemed like a war these days: the young master's death glares were missiles to Sebastian's lilting voice tanks, with the servant trio the fleeing, whining, mud-streaked victims: Finnian with his eyes drawn to the floor and his shoulders practically touching his ears, Bard with his lame jokes that were meant to break the awkwardness and instead only made everything worse ("So Sebastian... do you know we call butlers 'penguins' in America? Ha ha. Ha. Ha"), and Maylene who no longer reminded Sebastian of a tropical turtle, but of a tropical turtle on an _imaginative death row_.

They all knew that the young master was not at his most cordial this time of the year.

Nobody knew it better than Sebastian did, however.

"Get under the table." The fact that Ciel's voice squeaked in the middle of that sentence took away a lot of the wrath. "Now."

He had grown taller over the past couple of months -- so much that the crown of his head now reached the height of Sebastian's collarbones, if nothing else. Skinnier, as well: age had whipped away the round swell of his cheeks to reveal the first traces of what would one day be high and aristocratic-looking cheekbones. His young master was quite pleased with his new looks -- thought it gave him authority, gave him _power_, no doubt -- and Sebastian liked to watch how his young master would sometimes poke his stomach and delight in the absence of the pudge that had lent a childish curve to his belly mere months prior.

Personally, Sebastian thought there was still an unfinished roughness to his face, just like a statue being carved from marble that had passed the axe stage but hadn't yet made it to the chisel, but he held his tongue; he knew better than to flounder perched atop a high-strung rope.

Along with the growth spurt and the confidence, though, there had come that crack, the one that would make his voice jerk from  
soprano to bass and back in the span of a second, and then cause him glare at Sebastian out of glittering eyes of mortification. Much like he was doing now, after his voice had cracked somewhere in the middle of that empathetic 'now'.

Ciel frowned. "Get under the table," he repeated, willing his voice not to crack this time. "I have needs."

It was a game his young master was playing: Sebastian had once verbally likened it to the way a kitten played with a ball of yarn, tossing it in the air again before pouncing and digging its claws into it, tearing at the threads until they spilled out like glistening innards.

Outwardly, he only raised an eyebrow. "Oh, does the young master wish to be pleasured again so soon? It's only been a few hours since --"

"Are you trying to _argue_ with me?" He snaped, getting angry at himself for not being able to speak without that terrifying squeak. His eyebrows tightened into a venomous frown. "_Now_."

Sebastian smiled, polite and cold, and considered to drag this out _just_ a bit longer. He had always delighted in that part, after all -- the one where he could just say things to _annoy_ Ciel, the mellifluous inflections pouring out of him like syrup ("Oh, would you like me to orally pleasure you again? Is there something insufficient about my hand? Oh, and would you like me to swallow?" and oh, how he relished in that _twitch_ of his eyes) --

Deciding against it for now, Sebastian bowed his head, strands of inky black hair stumbling forward and dangling along either side of his cheeks, and said, "Yes, my Lord."

Ciel liked the power aspect of it more than anything else. Sebastian could tell, from the way his young master's eyes hardened with  
cruelty and then wielded beneath the sheen of anticipation when Sebastian sunk to his knees before him and crawled under the desk; from the way his every muscle tensed when Sebastian cupped his already hard cock through the material of his shorts, or from how his fingers found Sebastian's scalp and _pressed_, pulleing him toward him in impatience and dominance and barely controlled nerves that made the slender muscles beneath his skin cord into knots.

Sebastian had to try hard to stifle a grin, really, but suppressed it when he lowered his head, lips parting when they met the tip and then sliding down along the hot skin.

Sebasitan supposed that if he had been human, he would have probably found the space beneath Ciel's desk rather claustrophobic: the surface of the mahogany roof only inches from his head, the smell of wood and history in his nose, sturdy wooden legs fanned out at the either side of his head.

Not being human, it was all overshadowed by the smell of _Ciel_; the traces of his skin lotion, soap, shampoo, sweet-and-sour sweat and beneath it all, the heady scent of the excitement. Ciel's heartbeat pulsed in the shell of his own ears -- _thump thump __**THUMP**_ -- and above all, he could feel him _melt_, could feel his consciousness being dragged below the black sheen of pleasure and tumbling toward the abyss of orgasm, and _that _was what gave _Sebastian _more pleasure than anything else did.

Sebastian's lips stretched across the cock in his mouth as he smiled.

His young master was close now, he could tell: gasping and tightening his grip around Sebastian's head, trembling everywhere now, only just a little, just a _little __**bit**_ --

Until a voice -- "Ciel, Ciel," it called, high and sweet and pink-colored, if voices had colors -- ran through the scene, Ciel almost _jumped_ in his seat, and --

The door flung open with a crash, followed by the flurry of several light footsteps slapping against the ground, and another voice Sebastian immediately placed as the woman named Paula piping up from back near the doorway, "Lady Elizabeth, don't run in your fiance's study --"

A _jolt_ tore right through his young master's body, the kind of intense physical reaction that was like nothing so much as being slapped across the face. His grip around Sebastian's skull slacked before he snatched away his hands as if they'd caught fire. Heavy silence was broken only by the breathing and the fluttering hearts of the three humans in the room, but Sebastian could vividly imagine Ciel opening and closing his mouth like a fish writhing on deck of a fishing boat for just a few _seconds _before he pressed out:

"Li-Lizzie. What are you doing here?"

Sebastian didn't need to see his face to know that his eyebrows were _twitching_ in irritation now.

Sebastian could visualize Lizzie pout her lips in that way that made her eyes stand out in that adorable way. "Don't you know that it's your birthday?" The petulance in her voice broke by the end of the sentence, sunshine spilling forth. "I _always_ come for your birthday. Here, it's your birthday cake --"

"_Don't come any closer_." Ciel practically _crashed _against the backrest of his chair, the impact shivering all the way down to the chair's legs.

Sebastian could hear Lizzie coming to a halt, mind quick to conjure up images of a befuzzled look settling all over her face; perhaps she'd tilt her head, mouth hanging open, eyes big and wide and confused, and maybe she'd say --

"Huh? What's wrong?" A pause. "Finnian let us in, I didn't see anything wrong with entering. We were invited, and --"

And that was when Sebastian, with a smirk twitching at his lips, opened his mouth, and licked Ciel from base to tip.

Nerve explosions rippled in a chain reaction through Ciel's body, falling down his spine, pooling in his hips, making him etchforward and _up_ --

"_Nnng_." The muscles in Ciel's thighs were flexed so hard they seemed to quiver beneath Sebastian's hands. "_Nnn_ --"

And Ciel's fingers were back on Sebastian now, tangling in his hair, scratching, trying to push him away.

Sebastian reached up and caught one of Ciel's hands, holding it in place. He could feel Ciel trying to free himself, hurriedly, desperately, rotating his hand within the confines of the grip, fingernails in search for something to scratch.

And then Lizzie asked, "What are you fidgeting under your desk with?" and Ciel seized all movement, and in front of Sebastian, a clear image of the scroll of horror unfolding vertically along his young master's face swam into focus in his mind's eye.

_Glorious_.

"N-Nothing." N-_OH_-thing, courtesy of his squeak. "W-Weren't you supposed to -- to come tomorrow?"

Sebastian could hear her clothes rustling as she shifted her weight, probably for a better angle in order to to shoot Ciel another quizzical look. "No." He could just visualize the _blink_. "No, I --"

"I called yesterday to inform you we would be coming a little earlier." That was Paula, voice subdued and hesitant. "Did you -- did you not receive our message, Duke Phantomhive?"

The smirk that wound itself around Sebastian's face was so wide he was pretty sure it curled up around the edges of his eyes and showed a wink of his teeth. What he was _certain_ of was that Ciel could _feel_ it.

His young master stiffened against him. "W-What? Don't tell me you --"

Smirk still firmly in place, Sebastian closed his lips around him and sucked.

"-- _nng_."

Sebastian could just visualize him gritting his teeth, see him shaking and _glaring_, and then he heard him finish his inquiry with a rush of air that miraculously _didn't_ spike in the middle, "You were talking to _Sebastian_ on the phone?!"

And for a second, right along with that sharp inquiry, a fissure ran throughout the room that suddenly made every sound fall away, trapping them in a vacuum.

And Sebastian took Ciel's cock in deeper, letting his teeth lightly graze over the skin, tongue twirling at the top, and then the silence was broken and the staccato of his young master's breathing bored into his ears right along with the sound of him gripping the edge of the mahogany desk, hard enough that Sebastian could visualize it bursting beneath his knuckles.

"Yes, it -- it was Mister Sebastian," Paula said. "Is something wrong?"

"Ciel?" That was Lizzie, sounding unsure.

Sebastian could feel Ciel getting closer, and _closer_: His breathing was a growing crescendo in Sebastian's ear, getting faster, shallower, approching the state of panting; and he could visualize the soft spray of red that would have already been dragged up and dusted itself all over his cheekbones and the flanges of his nose, ocean eyes fogged over like a mirror beneath hot breath, and _mmm_, mouth dropped into an '_oh_', of course --

Sebastian had seen him on the brink of orgasm often enough to know _very well_.

A note of alarm clung to Lizzie's tone. "Ciel?! Are you sick?" Sebastian could hear rustling clothes and footsteps as she drew closer.

Ciel gripped the edges of the desk even tighter and slid forward. "_Don't_ come -- _mh_. Don't come -- closer. I have the -- the flu." A tremor passed through his body, Sebastian could feel it, and oh so close, _so close_ --

"Oh _really_?! Where are you hurting?" More footsteps. "Is there anything I can do?"

"NO!" He nearly toppled over the seat as he crashed against the back rest, and finally stopped trying to single-handedly chop the desk into firehood by holding up his hands. "I -- I mean, I don't want you to -- _oh_." A pause, trying to compose himself, even out his breathing. Then, "I don't want you to -- to catch the flu, too, so -- please -- just -- JUST --"

Thighs pressed together, feet trembling in concentration so hard that the heels of his patent leather shoes made a _click click click_ sound against the floor, long swell of muscles on his thighs flexing and unflexing so rapidly they _jumped _beneath Sebastian's palms_.  
_  
"Oh. Okay, Ciel. Then I guess I'll -- stay away." The footsteps fell silent. "But -- but where is Mister Sebastian? Shouldn't _he_ be taking  
care of you?"

Ciel's foot trembled harder, _clickclickclickCLICK__**CLICK**_.

"I -- I don't know about Sebasti--"

And he was stiffening, legs kicking out beneath him, almost choking on his breath; _oh yes, oh __**yes**_, _now, __**now**_ --

" -- _aaahhhhhn_."

Sebastian felt his release hit the back of his throat. He would have liked to roll it around on his tongue and savor the taste, but it wasn't the time; he swallowed, feeling it drop into his stomach like a ball.

Ciel released another chopped-off moan before his writhes blended into the last few stray shudders rolling through him in aftershock before stillig against Sebastian, muscles now turned to goo and the lulling haze ready to settle over his brain -- until Ciel, with another jolt, realized what exactly had just happened.

A hissing sound zipped through the air as all three humans gulped in breath near-simultaneously. The room was deathly silent for a long, contemplative moment, and then, as the implications of the story fully sank into the heads of all three humans, action resumed with an abrupt jerk.

Sebastian's imagination went into overdrive trying to picture the three people. Lizzie, _oh_ -- she wouldn't understand at all, and was probably commencing a rigorous program of blinking with confusion sprawled adorably all across her heart-shaped face right this moment, and she was talking, saying something like, "Ciel, what's wrong, are you all right, did I --". And As for Paula, she was herself a young, unmarried woman and would probably not allow herself to even _entertain_ these thoughts -- but she'd _suspect_ it, _oh yes_, would be uncomfortably reminded of the times she had touched herself at night huddled between the sheets. She was probably with a certain tightness around the corners of her lips and a nervous jitteriness to her limbs when she moved, and -- oh, and what would she say? Oh _yes_, she'd probably say --

"Lady Elizabeth." Sebastian could hear her fumbling. "We -- we should leave. I--I hope you recover soon, Earl Phantomhive. We'll – we'll leave the cake by the coffee table. Lady Elizabeth, if you'd just -- N-No, just for a little while – yes, of course you can play with him later, now if we could _just_ --"

And then, amidst the high-pitched and indignant protests, Paula maneuvered her protégée out of the room. The door fell shut behind them with a gentle _click_ that might as well have been a gunshot.

The seconds ticked past. The grandfather clock in the corner of the room was proclaiming the passage of time with a _tick-tock_ as proud as it was incessant.

Sebastian waited a few seconds until the wailing sounds of the two human females trotting down the hallway outside had dropped below the edge of his hearing, then crawled out from under the desk and got on to his feet, careful to smooth down his uniform and flick off a few specks of dirt.

Ciel gave him an acerbic look, one that pinned and measured him. Sweat pearled on his temples, matted strands of slate-colored hair against his forehead, and raked their path down over his now-hollow cheekbones.

Sebastian halted, dropped his arms on to his side, and held his young master's eyes.

Soon now, _soon_; Sebastian could almost visibly _see_ the neurones frizzling in Ciel's still-befuddled brain, struggling to connect the impression 'humiliated' to the muscular reaction 'physical violence'. Just a bit now and it would click into place, and the tension would finally invert and crash upon itself like a visible wave of white-hot shock, and Sebastian would accept the slap or the screams or the kicks with a demure nod and an apology that dripped with condescension, and it would thrill his young master so much that he would accept it.

And then they would bump against the next knot of the endlessly unraveling thread of their hopeless entanglement.

_Just like they always did.  
_  
And then, as predicted --

(_one, two, three; repeat -_-)

-- the tension snapped like a rubber band.

Ciel jumped on to his feet with a start. The chair screeched along the surface of the floor, shredding the silence. His master's upper lip curled as if he'd tasted poison and he spit it out with, "Sebastian."

"Yes, young master?"

The anger was twisting inside him, Sebastian could see it so well; the kindling set, the branches laid, match hovering just above, waiting for some of the embers to _strike_ –

And then, his young master's mouth fell shut, tightly-knitted eyebrows relaxed and drifted apart, and azure blue eyes widened as the dawn of realization set upon him.

Sebastian had known, of course, that his young master was far too intelligent not to be able to figure it out eventually. _Eventually_ being the operating key word.

He stood just a little bit straighter as if trying to physically deflect that glare that lit up his young master's eyes before it liquidized, dripped down and solidified into a venomous scowl around his lips.

Sebastian smelled the metallic surge in the air as Ciel's heart rate picked up.

And then, Ciel was marching up toward him, awkward teenage limbs for once strutting along the floor, heels making a dull _click click click_ sound that rose to a crescendo just before scattering and dying off when he came to a halt right in front of him.

_Close_.

"Can you?" Ciel hissed.

The fact that his young master's rebellious voice had squeaked right in the middle of that question made a smile tug at the corners of Sebastian's lips. "Can I _what_, young master?"

His eyes narrowed. "Come," he said, "Can you _come_, Sebastian?"

Sebastian let the seconds squeeze past. He could almost _hear_ them ache and moan as they struggled to pull through the tight canvas of time, stretching themselves thin in the process, long and white and bony, and --

Ciel's eyes slid over to a point somewhere to the right of Sebastian, and that was enough of a distraction to let the morbid mental image disappear with a _poof.  
_  
His young master pushed past him, eyes flexed upon something in the corner. "Fine then, if you're not going to answer."

_Click click:_ Ciel had snatched the cake from the coffee table and was walking back toward the desk; mask of palpable apathy cracked just enough for the rays of suppressed rage to squeeze through: tightness rippling at the corners of his lips, eyebrows narrowed, eyes _spitting_ out the words his mouth would not –

Ciel put the cake down on his desk. "I guess we'll find out, huh? Take off your trousers, Sebastian. And yes, it's _an order_."

And, in the pricks and needles that followed that statement, Sebastian took a long moment to just _look_ at his young master.  
"Not going to drop them?" Ciel tried to cover both the nervous tremble and the juvenile squeak in his voice, and failed on both accounts. "Come over here."

And while the floor creaked softly beneath his steps, as if contributing their own dramatic soundtrack to the scene, all Sebastian could think about was how very, very _interesting_ all of this was.

Up close, Ciel's eyes were still as young and wide and terrible as they had been at thirteen.

Sebastian held his gaze, trailing the newly-matured lines of his face, and remembered.

His young master, he had had a pretty smile once. _Blinding_, even -- a smile that had curled up around the edges of his eyes and made them glitter like stars in the uncharted universe of his face. Back then, when desire had still been a dream as soft and uncomplicated as yellow sunshine on his face and pollen-streaked limbs, that smile had been one of the first things that had caught Sebastian's attention.

Now, he no longer _had _a smile, but even so, even with his face locked into a tight mask, he was more beautiful than that screaming, joyful child with the bald pink knees and the laughing eyes ever could have been.

Ciel's hands were on his pants now, small fingers tugging urgently, and Sebastian's thoughts skidded to a halt and then scattered about much like the documents on Ciel's desk were when he brushed them away with a swat of his hand.

"Young master," Sebastian said, "these are some very important documents, are they not?"

Ciel didn't even dignify that with an answer other than an annoyed snort.

Sebastian could sense it all too well: that he was nervous, so _nervous_; a single sweat pearl glimmered on Ciel's temple, lost its footing, and then tumbled down, glittering in competition with those fiery eyes then curving over the swell of his cheekbones nd slicking into his jaw line.

The sound of Sebastian's trousers finally opening ripped through the scene, echoing hollowly off the walls and calling Sebastian back to the urgency of the situation, and with one long look at the determination smoldering in his master's eyes, Sebastian decided to -- _finally_ -- put an end to it.

The bones of Ciel's hands felt brittle and insubstantial when he gripped his wrists, stopping him in mid-movement.

"I am but your humble servant, young master," Sebastian said with firm politeness, " I cannot accept."

The words hung suspended in the air for a few moments after that, thick and thrumming.

Sebastian took a step back, hand still wrapped around his young master's wrist. "Now, if you'll excuse me -- I should properly greet our guests and --"

Ciel fixed him with a glare. "Don't even think about it."

A smile pulled at Sebastian's lips -- the fake one that never reached his eyes and yet always reached his _goals_. "I cannot --"

He stopped himself when Ciel pressed closer to him, and _closer_, until he could feel the ruffles of his blouse brushing against the front of his uniform, and feel his breath breaking across his neck, hot and moist and so deliciously human it stirred something deep inside him.

"Read my lips," Ciel said. "It's an _order_."

And with that, he grabbed Sebastian by the shoulders -- yes, actually _grabbed_, disadvantageous height notwithstanding -- and gave him a _shove_.

Ciel, being a human, said shove amounted to little more than the impact of a butterfly mindlessly drumming against a steel pipe.

Sebastian _allowed _himself to teeter back, however, until the back of his thighs bumped against the desk.

He wasn't exactly sure why he did it. It was possible that he just found his young master's behavior too intriguing -- oh yes, it was exciting indeed, the dominance -- or the _thirst_ for it, rather, oh, the useless struggle, _oh the glory_ -- or maybe the fact how amusing it all was, yes -- side-splittingly hilarious, really, how his young master finally managed to crawl out of the embrace of desire, pat himself clean of its smears and learn to wield the weapon he'd been given.

Sebastian had always had a penchant for the dramatic and ironic like that.

_Zip_, the zipper moaned as it finally split open, and Sebastian could see Ciel's eyes growing a little larger at that, and then there was more tugging and muffled cursing beneath his young master's breath, and then Ciel's hands finally found his --

Sebastian's spine stiffened just a little.

Another body part echoed that particular sentiment.

Ciel's face was so serene in its determination that it bleached the shadows of hesitancy a blinding white and made his eyes glitter and sparkle, and that smirk around his lips stand out as if to say, '_Gotcha_'.

Out loud, he only said, "Oh my, Sebastian. Smaller than I thought."

"I feel greatly honored to know that the young master has previously spent precious seconds contemplating the length of my penis."

"Well, your Latin classes can get rather tiresome."

An amused tone, with a smile snapping on its heels. "If that is the case, please remind me to give you more homework in order to ease your boredom, young master."

"Shut up now." Hand awkwardly curled around Sebastian, he finally started to move.

His strokes were messy and sloppy, just like his kisses were: too fast, too hard, as if trying to rip off his cock; unrefined skills made worse by the over-zealousness of adolescence.

Sebastian found it a little disturbing that he couldn't figure out why it still felt so _good_.

"Do you feel it?" Ciel's voice demanded, breath washing hot and moist all over Sebastian's neck. "_Do_ you?"

"I feel nothing, young master," Sebastian said, leaning forward to settle on Ciel's eye level, fine strands of hair falling forward to frame his face. "Nothing."

Sebastian could visualize the shower tick off the nubs of his vertebrae on its way down his curved spine when his young master shivered.

"Not even a little?" Ciel spat. He narrowed his eyes. "You're _hard_, though, you know that?" He squeezed his hand around Sebastian harder as if trying to asphyxiate the heart beat insistently fluttering against his palm. "I've enjoyed your '_services_' long enough to know what that means, Sebastian. "

Voice bland, Sebastian said, "Merely a --

_mh. oh.  
_  
"-- _physical_ reaction, young master."

And that was true, for the most part, _except_ -- that the way his young master's face broadened in determination, the way his eyes were _smoldering_ with that same emotion right behind the glassy surface --

(_oh yes, you've come such a long way)  
_  
A pulse of excitement leapt from Sebastian's eyes right down to his groin, _but __but but no no_ -- no matter how much he wanted to buck his hips and thrust into his master's hands, no matter _how much_ he wanted to hurl him into a crushing kiss, he kept his face passive and his body unresponsive.

_At least on the surface. _Sebastian could hear his own heartbeat in his ears now, distant drum -- _thump thump_ -- steadily getting louder -- _thump __**thump**_ -- and then --

Ciel withdrew his hand and took a step back.

Sebastian's arousal flatlined. Outwardly, he only _blinked_.

His young master's eyes sliced to something to Sebastian's right then right back to his face. "Stubborn." The word tumbled off of Ciel's tongue like an expletive. "But fortunately, I expected it wouldn't be quite this easy."

"Young master, whatever do you mean?"

"Shut up." Ciel leaned forward and carelessly tossed the wrapping of Lizzie's gift aside. Raw sunlight peeled off the cake, its whipped cream topping glimmering in the dappling light of the winter sun.

The first thing that Sebastian thought about when seeing the Italian cream cake was that it was rather misshapen: the cream had not been so much artfully aligned on top as recklessly scattered, missing even a shred of artistic license – _oh, these humans and their gluttony! – _and besides, this low quality of dough should not even be _allowed_ within the confines of the Phantomhive estate.

The second thought was an idea that zipped through his body like a jolt at the idea of just what his young master was intending to do with it.

Ciel leaned forward and crudely dipped his hand into the white cream.

The idea that had started to form inverted and crashed down upon itself when Sebastian saw that his young master was tearing at the front of his _own pants_ with the other hand.

Catching Sebastian's eyes, Ciel snorted. "Did you really think I'd take _that _into my _mouth_?" The sound of the front of Ciel's pants springing open screeched into Sebastian's ears. "_Never_." His voice had peaked in the middle of it – right between the 'e' and the 'v' – but Sebastian no longer found it that amusing.

His young master wriggled his hips, his shorts sagging and slowly peeling off of him before falling victim to gravity completely and tumbling to the floor in a heap.

Sebastian's eyes were still on the crumbled piece of clothing pooling around Ciel's ankles when he suddenly felt a sticky hand wrapping around his cock. Sebastian's line of vision _jumped_, skimming over his young master's slender hips, up over the lavish silken blouse to the bright blue talons of doom that lay cradled in the pale oval of his face.

And then Ciel pressed his body up against him harder, _harder_; Sebastian's erection trapped between both of their bodies, chests fused together, and the missiles of Ciel's eyes hurling at him from the height of somewhere around his breastbone.

"Sit on the desk," Ciel hissed, and gave him a rude shove that smeared cream all over his butler's uniform.

Sebastian held his young master's gaze, carefully pushing stray documents and pens to the side as he lowered himself. "Young master," he said, mock-scandalized, "are you aware how _difficult_ it is to remove stains from this uniform?"

"I'm sure we can arrange an alternate uniform for you," Ciel said.

"I always _was_ quite fond of leather," Sebastian suggested blithely.

Ciel put his knees on the desk, conveniently placed on either side of Sebastian's hips and swung himself up on them with one heave until he was hovering over Sebastian, precariously balancing on the edge of the desk.

Sebastian could _see_ his young master stumbling through the thick maze of hateful affection when their eyes met; Sebastian gazing up at him from beneath his eyelashes and Ciel's eyes like a glittering plastic star dangling from beneath a theater's roof, creaky old wires aching as it nearly _crashed_ down upon the cowering audience beneath --

"I was thinking more about asking Maylene for one of her spare uniforms." The corded muscles on Ciel's thighs flexed when he shuffled forward, bringing their crotches together.

( _he can't be thinking about – he can't be planning on –_ )

"How flattering that you think I would look acceptable in a skirt," Sebastian said.

His young master came closer and _closer_, until his hips were hovering directly above his.

Sebastian cleared his throat. "Although I cannot hope to ever look classier in one than _you_, young master."

"Oh, believe me." Ciel's eyebrows slid together and he put one hand on Sebastian's shoulders for balance while smearing half of the cake all over – _somewhere_ down there, Sebastian wasn't going to break eye contact, and then Ciel was _positioning_ himself –

( _is he really going to_ – _that's going to __**hurt**_ – )

And his young master's voice cut right down to the bone. "I look quite forward to seeing you look _un_classy, Sebastian."

With that, he dropped his hips, and Sebastian's eyes widened.

"Better?" Ciel asked, no, _demanded, _rubbing his thighs together_. _"You like this better, Sebas --" s_queak,_ "-- tian?"

Sebastian threw down his eyes, seeing – seeing the head of his cock peeking out from between the keyholed space between his young master's thighs, cream haphazardly splattered along Ciel's inner legs and gathering in the curls of both of their pubic hair –

_I'm between his thighs_, Sebastian thought hollowly. _His **thighs**_.

Ciel's eyes drilled into Sebastian like twin bullets, blood settling on his cheeks like a barometer of excitement.

Sebastian could feel himself pulsing against the swell of the long muscles on his young master's thighs, and oh, _was this supposed to feel so – so_ --

"I asked," Ciel said, leaning forward so that his breath washed over Sebastian's face, "if that was _better_." Another squeeze, thighs rubbing in slow bicycle-riding motions.

"Your imagination surely deserves recognition, young master."

Ciel held his gaze, face pale and glowing with the infusion of light falling in through the high-arched windows in the study.

His master's lower lip quivered.

And then, Ciel pulled himself up on Sebastian's shoulder (splattering even more of the cream on his uniform, he realized, it was everywhere now, _everywhere, __didn't he know how long it took to clean this_ –), Ciel's heels clicking again when he put both of his feet on top of the desk, the sun light that fell in through the high-arched windows pooling in glimmering half-moons at the tips of his patent leather shoes.

He raised and dropped his hips once. Sharp.

Sebastian's gasp was sharper.

Triumph spilled onto Ciel's features, set his eyes alight and then dripped down to pull his lips into a smirk.

Sebastian gritted his teeth together, swallowing whatever sound was trying to worm its traitorous way out of his throat – _he wouldn't moan, he wouldn't, he_ --

Ciel's hands found Sebastian's shoulders, and then there was the light pressure of his weight when he pulled forward a little to find a better angle, and then another drop of his hips, and another, up and down, up and down, _up and down.  
_  
Something settled in Sebastian's stomach, hard as a ball, sending out feelers to the distant tendrils of his nerves.

_Up.  
_  
"You can come," Ciel said breathlessly, eyes glittering down at Sebastian, sunshine tracing the glimmering curls of his hair.

_Down.  
_  
"Can't you?"

A moan was drumming at the back of Sebastian's teeth, urging to spill out of him. He kept his mouth shut and swallowed it, hands starting to fumble with Ciel's blouse, letting his fingers trail over the expensive silk and tangling in the ruffles.

_Up down up down __**up down**_ –

"_Can't you, Sebastian_?" Sebastian saw those swirling ocean eyes narrow, felt fingernails dipping into his shoulders. "_Answer me._"

_I can I can I think I'm going to I_ –

"No," Sebastian pressed out.

One of Ciel's eyebrows twitched. "Liar."

One of Sebastian's hands smoothed up over his master's chest to his shoulders and then toward his neck, that beautiful neck with the pulse fluttering against it (_it would be so easy to stop it, to just press, __**press**_) –

A smirk wound itself around Sebastian's mouth when the other hand wrapped around Ciel's cock. "But I know that _you_ can."

Ciel's eyes widened, up-and-down motions slowing down as, for just one moment only, his lower body seemed to _melt_ into Sebastian's hand.

Sebastian couldn't help but say, "Does – does it arouse you to see me like this, young master?" And he watched how his breath broke over the skin of his young master's neck and then spilled down his spine in a visible shower. And his young master's eyes clouded over with the spike of pleasure, lower body shuddering into Sebastian's hand, and _oh yes, just let it take over, just let --  
_  
Ciel's eyes snapped back into sharp focus.

"No." He slapped Sebastian's hand away, and suddenly his hips were rising and falling again. "No, this isn't what I want now. No," gaining confidence, _dominance_, "no, I want _you_ to come."

And, through the rush of his own blood in his ears, Sebastian could hear the sound of flesh slapping against flesh filling the study, over and over again.

He could feel it coming now, he could, only a few seconds away now, building up inside him, making everything tingle and fizzle with its forceful containment.

_Up, down, up, down, oh, smooth, warm, and those __**eyes  
**_  
"Yes," Sebastian said, no longer able to contain the flood, spine erecting as he gripped his master's shoulders, "Yes, my Lord."  
The last thing he saw before orgasm crashed down over him was that smirk that so artfully tickled the line to sadism stretch across Ciel's lips.

Some part of Sebastian noticed that he was bucking his hips in a frantic attempt to get as much friction as he could, and Ciel was laughing now, actually _laughing_, high and arch and sinister and --

That just made Sebastian come even _harder.  
_  
The tug-and-release tore through him like a different kind of heartbeat, and when Sebastian finally managed to raise his head up high enough to emerge from beneath the stardust-colored blanket of pleasure zipping from neurone to neurone, all he saw was his master's face.

His muscles jerked a few times with ebbing pleasure before stilling completely.

The way his young master was looking at him, you could have thought he had just stepped out of a sunlit meadow. The triumph shone bright-red out of his eyes.

"So you can," Ciel said, the deep satisfaction of a great talent finding its place drizzling his tone. "You _can_."

Sebastian slid off the desk, bending down to re-fasten his trousers around his hips, then demurely doing the same with his master's shorts. Face hovering a few inches away from his young master's crotch, his eyes caught the white liquid splattered on his stomach. Sebastian retrieved a tissue with practiced ease, starting to dry off his master's blouse.

Ciel wriggled impatiently. "I hope you take that as a lesson not to humiliate me in front of people _ever_ again, Sebastian."

Sebastian finished cleaning, raising his eyes to meet his young master's. A loose smile played around the corners of his lips. "Yes, my Lord."

Irritation curled at the corners of Ciel's mouth. "What are _you_ smiling for now?!"

"I apologize, young master. You must forgive me for finding a certain," he raised his eyes, smiling, "_irony_ in all of this."

Oh, and there it was again, the familiar defiance: a small twitch of his eyebrows, a haughty raise of his chin, and, "_Irony_? The irony that I'm much too good to lower myself like this?" Something in his eyes shifted. "You never told me what power came with giving pleasure."

Sebastian was silent.

"That was the whole reason you ever did it to me, wasn't it?" The glow that had settled over his face dimmed. "_Power_."

"Young master," Sebastian said, "It is _always_ about power."

The implications of that sentence hung in the air, thick and cloying.

Sebastian could visibly see Ciel floundering to find the key to the next level of this conversation until he said, in a tone that was not a question, "You mean – you mean that everything you _ever_ do is for power."

"Ah." Sebastian smiled. "I didn't say _that_. All I'm saying is that it may be worth to look back at the past – oh, how long has it been? Half a year?"

His young master's eyes sharpened, snapping his features back into focus.

Sebastian went on, "That you may do good re-analyzing those months, young master. Having said that," he took a step forward, body sliding along the floor like a cat, "you are still aroused, young master."

"Don't," Ciel said, jaw set, shoulders thrown back in full display, "you even _think_ about it."

Sebastian nodded, bowed, said, "Very well, young master. Now, if you will excuse me, it is terribly rude of us to keep our guests waiting, I should --"

He _heard_ more than saw Ciel stomping toward him in great chopping strides, and then he was standing in front of him. Sebastian could smell him, the shrill tang of emotions wafting off of him – _anger_, that's what it was _– a_nd then Ciel put both of his hands on Sebastian's shoulders again, raised on his tiptoes, and then he was _kissing_ him.

Except that it wasn't so much a kiss as an invasion, teeth clicking against teeth as his young master pressed up against him, pushing his mouth open with his jaw and shoving his tongue inside, hot and moist and demanding.

Sebastian's eyes widened at the not-kiss, freezing for just a moment beneath the rough tongue and the pressing lips and the pushing jaw, and then just when Sebastian's brain switched and his hands flew to Ciel's shoulders and he meant to dive down into his mouth, _just_ then --

Just then, Ciel broke the kiss with a wet smacking sound and took a step back.

And then, for a moment, everything else fell away as they stared at each other.

Oh, yes. _That_ was why he had chosen that pollen-streaked child with the blinding smile back then, hadn't he?

"Surprise," Ciel dead-panned.

_That intelligence_.

"Because you forget, Sebastian --"

_And that will power.  
_  
"-- that everything _I_ do is for power, too."

_Only you, young master.  
_  
Sebastian smiled. "I would expect no less from you, young master."

He was glad he had met his young master, really. Had chosen _him_, and not one of the millions of other tortured souls prowling through the streets. Him, Ciel Phantomhive, who felt the _connection_ humming in the air just as much as Sebastian did, who give and took in equal terms, who surprised Sebastian, surprised him with his longing and wrought-out suffering and the _unpredictability _of his loving.

He was aware of the bond that succeeded knowledge, that was _instinctual_; he knew his young master could never put it into words, but his blood and flesh _understood_.

Understood that their bond exceeded friendship, but wasn't love, that it was competitive and fiercely _ruthless_, but wasn't hatred. The two of them were like a piece of art split into two, both parts of which had been chafed and torn apart and no longer _fit_, but had been stitched together on a whim and remained glued together by something much more mystical.

_And above all, the most entertaining playmate Sebastian had ever had.  
_  
And while they looked at each other this time, Sebastian smiled.

This was merely the end of another round, and Sebastian looked forward to the grand finale.

* * *

**Author's Notes**: LMAO, okay, so... I have no idea if this is better or worse than the first 2 chapters or what (other than the obvious fact that the writing style has been updated), but it's certainly very, uh, _different_. o.O

Also, there's a severe lack of thigh-fucking in fandom. Why don't more people write thigh-fucking? It's awesome lyek. O.o Same as with the poor underused frottage. *pets Thigh-Fucking and Frottage*

I totally forgot how awesome Sebastian and Ciel were to write as characters. Sebastian's a dick, Ciel's a dick; gotta love it. 3

*squints into crystal ball* Oh, what do I see in the future of this future... is it... could it be... AN ACTUAL CHAPTER WITH PLOT?

(Also, you might want to put me on author alert or check my profile, maybe? Because I have 2 Kuroshitsuji oneshots that I plan on posting next month. Yeah ^^)

And reviews make authors, uh. Even ecstatic_er_ in pants!

^^ Till next time.


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